Thursday, June 30, 2011

Taking it From Project Hello to Hello Friends!

Hello! (Which is how this all started...)

I'm Coco and I am a Wee Dog in the Wee Ones collection created by cmh design and I will be guest blogging tonight. I was - if not the first Wee One created two years ago - I was one of the first. Which is why I was elected to play such a major role in our most recent event in Denver, Project Hello. (Well, that and I'm just so darn cute. And modest.) The object of Project Hello is to introduce yourself (the artist/artisan) thru your art. Therefore it was my responsibility to conduct interviews with fellow artists and visitors. I had a little help translating and interpreting from my peeps at cmh design - Cindi and her wingman, Charlie.

We thought the questions were simple, but we soon learned they required some thought ~ and there were very thoughtful people in attendance last Saturday. For instance - who knew it was so thought-provoking to decide on a favorite food? Here are the responses:

artichokes (2 people liked these best)

avocados (mushy fruit with a big pit making it difficult for a dog to attack)

a cheese plate (I have been known to sneak a few off a party table when no one is looking)

dark chocolate (a man after my creator's heart for sure)

French cheese (from - of course - a delightful artist from France)

green chili burritos (someone not on a diet - lucky guy!)

ice cream (she's a honey, that one)

kale (a super healthy person eating a superfood!)

lasagna - (2 people, perhaps Italian...)

mac and cheese (oh yeah...)

matzo ball soup (when I show you who said this, it will totally make sense)

pizza (he could be my best friend)

raisin bran (really?)

red foods like strawberries and salmon (ok. and ok.)

sushi (2 people who would get along well with the Wee Cats)

Tab soda (again. when I show you who said this, it will totally make sense)

Thai food (again with the health. sigh...)

wine (now I know this person would be BFF's with my creator. Unless it was her!)

Some people had a hard time breaking it down so had to go with categories like:

dessert (2 people - and if everyone was honest they all would have said that)

sandwiches (as he said, "you can't go wrong with sandwiches.")

soup (he needs to meet up with sandwiches for lunch)

We then moved on to "What is your favorite pastime/hobby?" And not surprisingly there were a lot of creative people!

2 people like to make music and 2 favor reading and 1 enjoys writing poetry

Others enjoy hanging out with friends and basically loving life

1 person struggled to put it into words and finally said, "I can't keep it clean." (we like that person *wink*)

1 person enjoys shopping for jewelry and another said "Keeping track of Joyce." (again. when I show you who said this, it will totally make sense)

Favorite animals were diverse and interesting!

dogs outnumbered cats ~ 6 people like dogs (one narrowed it down to pugs; another down to moi!); and cats got 2 votes. Go dogs!

2 people favored foxes; 1 coyotes and 1 wolf

From there it was all over the map. Baby goats; bears; camels (yes camels); chameleons; eagles; elephants; humans (that was different); monkeys; owls; peacocks (yes peacocks. Again. when I show you who said this, it will totally make sense); tea cup piglets (that was different); whales and one - moi! (again. when I show you who said this, it will totally make sense)

Favorite colors again showed the creative side of this bunch:

5 people prefer red

4 people like blue

4 people are all about green(including dark olive green)

3 people like various shades of purple (including violet)

2 people each enjoy black, pink (and hot pink) and orange

1 lonely soul likes yellow and 1 is all about "Coco brown" (Again. when I show you who said this, it will totally make sense)

And by this time you can predict that what these folks do for a living will not surprise you...

4 peeps are graphic designers and 5 are artists

2 are students and 2 are in marketing (including a Marketing Goddess!)

We met an accountant; an administrative assistant; a government employee; a designer; an engineer who makes the internet run faster; an English teacher; a fundraiser; a physical therapist; a poet; a video editor; a waiter (hey - he's honest!) and my favorite ~ an abundant liver/lover of life!

The ratio of men to women interviewed were about 2/3 women to 1/3 men. What can I say? I like women. :) So there you have it ~ what I learned about my new friends and had a blast doing. And you may be wondering why those particular questions were asked - we were curious what awesome, creative people think and feel and live. Each Wee One created carries a story, so some of these answers will help write stories; some will help develop new animals. You, my friends, are our inspiration! Thank you for helping us move from "Project Hello" to "Hello, Friend!" Big hugs and big thank yous to our new friends:

P.S. Apologies if you were interviewed and your name was misspelled or omitted. I did my best to write clearly; but some of the cursive was illegible so my peeps had a challenge translating from dogspeak to humanspeak. And humongous thanks and appreciation to Sandra + Louise who did such an outstanding job organizing and producing "Project Hello." Kudos, ladies!! Peace & Love, Coco the Wee Dog